[2Tone]

Pollack is using technological advances, new marketing and endorsement strategies and original product placement to situate poker more into the mainstream and enhance the event's — and the sport's — appeal.

"When people think of Wimbledon, they think of the ultimate expression of tennis. When they think of the WSOP, I want them to have the same connotation," Pollack, 41, says. "Our job is to cement our No. 1 status even further and build the business in a way that it has never been built before.

"The playbook I'm using is the exact playbook used by the NBA, NASCAR, the NHL, and the NFL."